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Plate setter question
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Thinking about buying a plate setter so I can do some indirect smoking. How high does the plate setter sit above the coals and how much space does it leave around the edges for the heat to get through?
Comments
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Depends, What size Egg?
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Which size egg?
If you are talking about a large, before buying a plate setter, take a look at the adjustable rig/spider and a pizza stone as an alternative.
GG -
If you are talking about a large, before buying a plate setter, take a look at the adjustable rig/spider and a pizza stone as an alternative.
Yes, it is the large. Where do you buy this adj. rig/spider? How much space does it leave around the edges for the heat to get the cooking surface? -
It's a large.
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champsin97,
You can find detailed information & pictures here.
http://www.eggaccessories.com/adjustableRig.html
If you let the egg - and plate setter or adjustable rig and pizza stone - or egg and foil or aluminum pan get to a stable temp then all the heat will get to the cooking surface.
It sounds like you have a deeper question in your post.
What are you looking for as to how much or how little heat gets to the cooking surface?
GG -
Yeah, I guess that would make sense. At first, I was thinking that the stone would block the heat from getting to the cooking surface and the only avenue for the heat to get there would be the space from the edge of the stone to the side of the cooker.
Is it harder to maintain temps with the hanger and stone in? -
The stone evens the heat out so you do not have hot spots over the surface of the grate.
I have a friend that bought a large and did not use a place setter or eggaccessories spider and stone and all his food was dried out. He finally got the spider and stone to cook indirect.
It is hard to cook direct for long periods of time and not burn or dry out the food. You can do it but you have a very low margin of error. A stone or pan makes it much easier not to have black food. Normally the higher you have the grate up from the fire the easier it is.
If you are grilling a steak that is a different story. -
It sits high enough above the coals....and there's enough room on all 3 sides to let the heat circulate.....trust all 500 of us!!
Seriously....It depends on how high you stack the coals....if you're doing an all-nighter...it might only be four or five inches above the coals....I would say an inch and maybe a bit more for heat to come up the sides of the plate-setter.....For low-n-slow smoking a platesetter is a must-have.....
Eddiemac -
The idea is to keep the direct radiation and flame form reaching the food and using indirect heat to cook the food.
At some point in time what ever furnatiure (pizza stone/plate setter/pan with water or sand) you put in the egg or stove will end up cooking the food.
I would venture to say that cooking a brisket on a first leavel rack would act as an indirect cook on another brisked placed directly above.
With the same of the plate setter if food overlaps the three non leg sides that food will get way over cooked as compaired to the food that has been shielded from the direct exposure to the lump.
There is so much mass with the ceramics of the egg that maintaining a constant heat is easy. The more furnature (mass) that is put in the egg will help maintain a more constant heat longer. It will also take a bit longer to reach any given heat level or change a heat temp up or down.
That it is important once you get an egg to temp that one doesn't play with the vents when a plate setter is put in the egg - the egg will regain the temp once the setter warms up. Again the temp in the egg will drop when food is introduced to the egg
Many people will say to put the furnature in the egg when bringing it up to temp with the egg.
Hope that helps.
GG -
Mahi-Mahi,
I cook on the egg all the time without a plate setter or any other device to shield from the coals and get great moist food.
Yesterday, I tossed on a couple of chicken legs (sorry Spring didn't mean to cook your legs) and cooked them direct for 1 hour 18 minutes. When done the skin was just passed golden bown and getting darker, but not burned.
I bit into the leg and moisture spurted out of the leg and onto my shirt, pretty good size spill actually.
One of the amazing things is how moist the egg cooks things.
Dry food ususlly comes from overcooking and is a very excelent reason to purchase a thermopen.
My 2¢ worth anyway.
GG -
BGE makes a platesetter for each size of egg, except the mini.
I consider a platesetter and essential piece of equipment. There are a lot of times that I will use it upside down. I do this mostly when I am cooking in a Dutch Oven.
Hope this helps,
RhumAndJerk -
I wonder if anyone has done a l&s without a setter or drip pan, and if so what the results were.
Not being indirect, it is natural to think it would burn the meat, but I wonder...
If the pit temp is 225° and the food on a raised grid - how would that cook turn out and would there be any difference in taste?
GG -
IMHO, the spider is without question hands down much better to use with a DO than a setter - normal and inverted.
The spider is one of the nicest accessories one could get for an egg.
GG
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I wondered why my legs were a bit red this morning. I just thought I had run a couple of miles while in dreamstate. Now I know it was just me reaching medium rare state LOL...
Spring "Hot To Trot" Chicken
Spring Texas USA -
As a matter of fact, I did a low and slow without a plate setter when I first got my Egg. I thought about it some and decided to let the Egg stabalize then completely close the bottom vent. Any air getting to the fire would have to come from above. So I cracked open the Daisy Wheel a bit more than normal and it worked. Just not nearly as good as a plate setter.
I still use that setup when cooking ABT's direct. And it works.
Seems there's more than 10,000 ways to skin a cat.
Spring "Always Doing Stuff The Other Way" Chicken -
Hope this is not a stupid question but why the foil under the spider and DO?? Just wondered.
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LOL,
Leroy, I think it was you who posted a picture of you walking gathering some wood for handles. I believe you had some red cut-offs on. Now every time someone posts or says something about 'chicken legs' that image comes to mind.
You are infamous!!!
Be well my friend.
Kent -
Interesting concept.
GG -
Not stupid at all...
That paticular DO's bottom is too narrow and will slip through the spider, so I put a walmart special ss deep dish pizza pan underneight it.
I didn't have a picture of the larger DO on the spider to post. The other DO's I have are almost the diameter is almost to the fire ring all the way around. Wouldn't see the spider.
Fantastic way to cook though.
GG -
Ha... You don't have much gray matter left, do you?
You must be talking about this one.
I can't count the number of people who thought that photo should rank right up there with Moner Leesie and Edward G. Robinson.
Glad it caught your eye.
Spring "Built-In Good Understanding" Chicken -
You might want to reconsider questioning RhumAndJerk's posts..he has been cooking on an egg longer than you or me...in fact probably longer than you "and" me combined...and telling newbies or other forum members they should use an aftermarket product over a big green egg product most likely wont win you any brownie points with the people that own this forum ( Big Green egg )...just a thought..
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Ahhhh, there you are, that's the one.
Never knew who the Spring Chicken was for a long time...
Yup, there is a lot space for learnin between those ears of mine.
That's a lot of handle wood there behind you.
Kent -
Wess,
Heaven’s I wasn't questioning RummAndJerk's post, nor did I intend to offend him in any way by suggesting an alternative.
As I stated "IMHO I like the spider when using the DO". I am quite certain you or RummAndJerk and for that matter many others out there could and do cook circles around me.
Further, IMHO taking an egg to nuclear temps to Trex is asinine when one could put a grid on the spider normal or inverted to get that Trex sear done then go to normal or raised grid level for the ‘roast’ part of the cook.
However, there is a big ‘wow’ factor with traditional TRexing. But what’s a few gaskets here and there.
As for points being lost to BGE or forum owners, I would hope I have some credit sitting there for all the eggs I have referred (and people have bought due to my cooking for them or demoing for them). As well as the 4 eggs I have purchased and the 4 plate setters that was purchased with them.
I dearly love the egg and recommend them regularly.
Hugs, Kent -
WessB posted below and I wanted to talk with you.
I hope you didn't take what I posted as being offensive or in any way questioning your knowledge.
If my post offended you in any way I apologize.
Kent -
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My post was in no way meant to say anything negative about your products, as those of us who own any of them know they are quality products....Having BGE products and your products available makes just about any setup easily possible.
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I have not used a spider so I cannot say how well it works.
Many times when I am using a dutch oven, I am not around to stir. The upturned platesetter with some kiln posts under the Dutch oven means that whatever is cooking will not burn on the bottom because there is no direct transfer of heat.
R&J -
R&J,
I have used the plate setter also with the DO. Before the spider, when I used the DO. I would use the plate setter or some ceramic kiln stilts to sit under the DO (with camp feet).
If I had to stir, I probably wouldn't use the DO.
The chili picture was never stirred once I closed the dome of the egg. I set the egg to simmer temp and came back when it was done, of course no lid on the DO.
If you ever get the interest the spider is a great accessory. When I purchased I was only interested int he adjustable rig. I saw the combo and went that way.
I had burned my gasket two different times Trexing and got mad at myself. So I did some direct on lump searing which works great.
I got to thinking about the spider and that is the first time I used it. After that I began to see all kinds of applications to use the spider with.
With the spider I have easy access to the lump for putting in flavor wood or whatever.
If you get the inkling, try the spider.
This is beginning to sound like I am a sales person for Tom. I don't know Tom at all actually.
I have gaied so much information and help from the folks here on the forum that I want to contribute something back. For me getting and using the spider is as almost as exciting as when I got my first egg.
The egg and Dutch Oven is the best of two worlds adding the spider is an amazing combination.
Nevertheless, R&J I sure was not responding in a negative way to your post. My intention was to share something I felt was a great addition to the egg.
Someday it would be my honor to meet you, say hello and learn from your extensive expertise.
Kent -
Wess,
Ahhh, that was my point!
I guess I need to re-read my posts, possibly they don't read that way.
Kent
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